A fishing trip

BBC:

The Metropolitan Police has seized £35m during an operation targeting safety deposit boxes used by criminal gangs.

Officers also recovered guns, drugs, child pornography and even illegal elephant tusks when 3,500 deposit boxes at three London centres were raided.

If 3500 boxes were raided, it's fair to say that this was a fishing trip rather than a targeted search.  Ever woke up with a feeling that you were in a bad dream?

Comments

[James P]

Amazing. There was an (in)famous Italian called Valerio Viccei who broke into a safe deposit centre in Knightsbridge over 20 years ago, finding mostly stolen or illegally obtained valuables and drugs, and got sent down for 23 years for his trouble, even though nobody who had lost these items complained about it...

[Jon Gregory]

If I recall correctly didn't they do the same thing about one to rwo years ago, and yes it is a fishing trip, no doubt sanctioned by some piece of anti terrorism legislation.

[Peter Risdon]

I know one of the depositors who was caught up in a similar sweep last year. The police have accepted there are no criminal activities behind the cash they found in her box, but still refuse to hand the money back, inviting her instead to give it to Revenue and Customs, even though she has proved where it came from and that tax was accounted for correctly.

I'm going to blow the gaffe on this fairly soon, because there are some other details that make this a particularly egregious case of the abuse of power. Indeed, it's arguably not even that, but rather the assumption of power.

[Bishop Hill]

My god.

[Johnathan Pearce]

James P is correct. I actually know the barrister who defended VViccei, by the way.

We have been living in a bad dream for quite a while now.

[Jack Hughes]

It's pedantic and tangential - but the boxes are *safe* deposit boxes - not *safety* deposit boxes.

[Jon Gregory]

Further thoughst that from what Peter Risdon said, English law has been changed, you are now guilty until you prove yourself innocent, such is the stuff of nightmares we are slipping into.

[James P]

Thank you Johnathan! Viccei wrote a book about the robbery: http://snipurl.com/eo033

I met him in Parkhurst (where I was working!) and he was a charming man.

Peter Risdon's comment reminds me of the family who had their new van impounded by C&E when they used it to carry a load of refreshment they had just bought for a wedding they were organising, but that exceeded the 'personal consumption' guidelines. AFAIK, they lost the contents and the vehicle...